This is such a harrowing read, it shows the worst and best of humanity. The worst being Bashar al-Assad the psychopath in charge of Syria as he rampages across a country full of culture and history, torturing and murdering those who disagree with him and his beliefs. The worst is also the rest of the world sat idly by saying things along the lines of don't you cross that red line, so Assad does and there is zero response. It is also the media, not keeping focus on an event like this, keeping it in the public eye is the one way to guilt a response from world leaders.

The best of humanity is those who stayed behind to rebel against Assad's rule to fight for freedom of speech without the threat of prison, for the right to live their lives and get an education. You have some who aren't there to fight but are there to offer medical aid, some stay to protect their home and one even stays because he was training in dentistry and he saw all the dentists leaving for safety.

Mike Thomson starts off this book well, a little story about the unique grapes that grow only in Darayya, a beautiful place, and then that all gets torn down by what has been happening there in recent years. Mike tries to get there to report but it is deemed too dangerous for him, instead not giving up he manages to contact people still in the town so that he can tell their stories and let the world know what is happening. What he wasn't planning on was uncovering one of the most extraordinary stories to come out of a conflict zone. A group of people risking all to save books and create a secret library so that the people can still educate themselves. It becomes a sanctuary for many from the almost continuous bombardment from pro-Assad forces.

Their ability to survive, on such a small amount of food, to live under such immense stress and yet still hold out hope for a positive future blows my mind....incredible people. As soon as I finished this book I went online to see a headline that Assad is still getting warnings from other countries, this time Turkey, and yet still nothing happening.

Everybody should read this book showing just how strong the Human spirit is and once they've read it, share it.

Blog review is here> felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/02/04/syrias-secret-library-by-mike-thomson/